a/n: pretend Nova has a way to be protected from Max because your gal forgot about it and doesn't want to figure it out.
"I'm going to destroy her. I'm going to find Nightmare, and I'm going to destroy her." He curled his fingers into the back of Nova's shirt, gathering the material into his fists. "Nova ... will you help me?"
Grimacing, Nova turned her head toward the front room. Through the doorway, she saw the edge of the coat closet. The dingy wood trim around the doorjamb. The carpet worn nearly to the floorboards beneath.
"Yes, of course I will," she heard herself say as she stared into the empty eyes of Ace Anarchy's helmet, glinting at her from the shadows.
Nova examined Adrian's face as they sat in the Hospital's waiting room. He was slumped in the chair, slowly sliding towards the ground. He looked almost peaceful, but she knew that he had only fallen asleep out of pure exhaustion. His body simply couldn't stay awake any longer. He hadn't slept in two days, not since Max had been hurt. And it was her fault. She had dodged the spear, and it had gone straight through him. Nova winced as the scene played through her mind again. His scream as she pulled the pike from his body. His white face as the blood mixed with the frosty ice stolen from Frostbite.
"Miss McLain?" A face appeared around the corner. Nova recognized it as the prodigy doctor that had finally been able to treat Max, after she had snuck the vitality charm back into Adrian's house and made a big show of helping them all look for it, before leading them back to the spot where she had left it. "Mr. Everhart is asking for you." Nova gulped and stood, her legs shaking as she made her way around the corner and followed the doctor back into the corridor of the hospital.
Max was lying in the hospital bed, his face as pale as the sheets. He gave her a weak smile as she entered the room.
"Hey, Nova."
"Hey, Max. How are you feeling?"
"Pretty bad, honestly But I'm alive at least. Thanks to you. Or should I say, thanks to Nightmare."
"I–I don't," Nova sighed. She knew there was no denying it. Max knew. It was inevitable. "How did you know?"
Max chuckled softly. "Just because Adrian's too in love with you to notice all the things connecting you to Nightmare doesn't mean no one else noticed."
"Adrian is not—"
"Please. Everyone's seen how he looks at you. He's changed recently, and I'm 99% you know why."
"I—" Nova blushed and looked down at her feet. "It doesn't matter. When he finds out who I am, he'll hate me."
"You don't know th—" Max started.
"Actually, yes, I do. After the. . . incident, he came to my house and asked for my help in finding Nightmare."
Max grimaced. "Oof."
"And after I agreed, all he said was 'I'm going to find Nightmare, and I'm going to kill her'."
"I think we both know, when the time comes, he won't be able to kill you. I don't believe Adrian is
really capable of killing anybody, no matter what you think." A quiet knock sounded at the door, and Nova spun around to see Adrian's drowsy face in the window. He smiled when he saw Nova and gave her a small wave. Against her will, Nova smiled back. Even in the recent events of the past few days, the sight of Adrian's handsome face never failed to make her feel happier.
Adrian opened the door and stepped over the threshold. "Hey, Max. Nova." He strode over to the opposite side of the bed and ruffled Max's hair. "What were you saying before I walked in?" He turned to Nova. "You look. . . are you okay? You look. . . scared?"
"I was just telling Nova about what happened that night in the lobby. How Frostbite—Genissa— was aiming for Nightmare with the spear and accidentally hit me, and how Nightmare tried to save me and put Genissa to sleep so she'd have to give up her powers." Adrian gaped at him, a look of astonishment plastered on his face.
"Nightmare tried to. . . save you? But she—wasn't she standing over you when I—when the Sentinel found you?"
"Nightmare tried to save me," Max confirmed. "She pulled out the pike because I asked her to, and then ran when the Sentinel showed up and took me to the hospital."
Nova shuddered and turned to Max. "I'll leave you two alone now. Get better, Max." She turned to go, but before she had taken even a step Max interrupted her. "Hey, Nova?" Nova spun back around to see Max gesturing for her to come closer. He gave her a quick hug and whispered in her ear, "Thank you. When the time comes, you'll know what to do. You're a good person, Nova."
Nova pulled away and gave Max a weak smile before turning to Adrian and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll talk to you later. Bye, Max, Adrian." With that, she turned and walked across the threshold.
The minute Nova's footsteps had receded from the hallway, Adrian turned to Max with a confused expression on his face. "What happened to her? What did you tell her?"
"Oh, nothing. Just a little advice for the future." Max only laughed when he was met with Adrian's confused expressión.
"I'm going to pretend that wasn't super vague and let you get some rest now. See ya later, Bandit."
"Goodbye, Sentinel."
Adrian clutched his chest as if he were wounded. "How dare you," he chuckled. "If you weren't so observant, I wouldn't have to deal with this from you too."
Adrian turned to go, but not before he saw a small smirk arc across Max's face. He gave Max a questioning look, and when it was returned with only an innocent shrug, Adrian turned to go.
